LONDON (AP) ― Two of the world’s biggest publishing houses are to link up in a deal that will bring the writings of classics like George Orwell’s “1984’’ and this year’s literary phenomenon “Fifty Shades of Grey’’ under one umbrella.
Confirmation that Pearson will merge its Penguin Books division with Random House, which is owned by German media company Bertelsmann, will create the world’s largest publisher of consumer books, with around a quarter of the market.
As well as publishing books from authors such as John Grisham, Random House scored a major hit this year with E.L. James’ “Fifty Shades, “ a steamy novel about a submissive college student and a dominant entrepreneur. Penguin has a strong backlist, including Orwell, Jack Kerouac and John Le Carre.
The two companies said Monday that Bertelsmann would own a controlling 53 percent share of the joint venture, which will be known as Penguin Random House.
Bertelsmann would keep full control of Verlagsgruppe Random House, its trade publishing business in Germany, and Pearson would retain the right to use the Penguin brand in education.
The combined company will control 26 percent of the global consumer publishing market, leaping ahead of the 17 percent share of French publisher Lagardere, according to research by Espirito Santo Bank.
